It’s the one thing that the coaches cannot
control – the postseason schedule.

Nothing like throwing a bye in the middle of a
postseason run, but that is what Mountain Pointe and Desert Vista,
along with opponents Chandler Hamilton and Mesa Desert Ridge, are
dealing with this week.

“We’ll be OK,” Desert Vista coach Dan Hinds
said. “We will be able to get it going. We can’t give them four
days off and remain sharp but I am confident it won’t disrupt our
momentum.”

The Thunder have won eight straight so it is
pretty clear they are on a roll. They took Thursday off and will do
the same Friday. They’ll resume Saturday and pick up
again on Monday.

Senior wide receiver/defensive back Mike
Ingrassia doesn’t care if they practice every day during the
holiday. Just the fact that they are not turning in their jersey
and pads is good enough for him.

“Two more
weeks of football – that’s all I wanted,” he said after last week’s
win over Tucson Salpointe. “It’s a good thing to know that we’ve
got a lot of football still ahead of us.

“At this
point, the team’s physical condition is fine, but we don’t need to
be pushing like that. … But it’s all mental. So the extra week is
really good to prepare, make sure we’re ready.”

The No. 3
Thunder (10-2) will play No. 10 Desert Ridge (9-3) on Dec. 3 at
Gilbert Mesquite High. No. 3 Mountain Pointe (10-2) takes on No. 1
Hamilton, winners of 38 straight, including two 5A I state title
games, at Chandler High.

“It gives us time to, hopefully, get healthy,
and prepare for a very good football team,” Pride coach Norris
Vaughan said. “We are going to need it.”

The Huskies are 13-0 and ranked seventh
nationally by USA Today’s Super 25. They have more leftover talent
than your grandma has turkey. Hamilton’s second team would probably
be good enough to be a top 10 seed.

But that doesn’t mean they are invincible. As
long as the Mountain Pointe bus shows up next Friday and the ball
is put in the air on the opening kickoff the game will be played.
At that point history shows it is anyone’s ballgame.

“You have to beat the best to be the best,”
senior offensive lineman Chris Carl said. “If you are competitive
you want to play someone like Hamilton. I’ve wanted to play against
them my whole career. It shows you how good you really are.”